


Rugby Shirts are Always in Style

by orphan_account



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3, Mother : EarthBound Zero
Genre: M/M, One Shot Collection, all AU oneshots of either Nesscas or Clausten, its a ghost AU what do u want from me, just self indulgent bullshit, major character death but like not sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-18 07:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4696667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one shots that I wrote for fun, all of them with different AUs, some of them with art. 100% Clausten or Nesscas because I love it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Roommates

_**A/N:**_ _This is just a ghost AU I wrote because I love AUs. Character death but not too bad. Mostly written because I wanted Ninten to drink drain cleaner thinking it was cool blue gatorade. Anyways, I drew art for this, it's at the bottom, I hope you like it!_

 

* * *

 

 

“Alright Mr. Westwood, all of your papers are in and your first payment has been received, enjoy your new apartment.”  
  
“Thanks.” Claus collected the keys to his new place and saw his new landlord out the door. Damn, finally found a place to stay.  
  
After living in disarray with his brother and his brother's obnoxious boyfriend, Claus decided it was time for a change. He'd been searching for a new apartment for about... a month? Yeah, that sounds about right.  
It probably wouldn't have taken so long, but finding an apartment in New York that didn't spell complete bankruptcy was hard to come by. Thankfully there was this place.  
A simple, 3 room apartment with kitchen/living room, a bathroom and a small bedroom. It wasn't too shabby either. Sure, the heat didn't work all the time and there was a dent in the ceiling, but it was half the price per month as every other place he had looked, and some of them weren't even as nice.  
It was sort of weird that an apartment this quality was so cheap... Huh.  
He plopped down on the couch, cracking open a beer, guess he was just a lucky guy.  


* * *

  
  
“Hey man, thanks so much for this, I don't know why my room is so cold nowadays, I think the AC might be busted.”  
  
“It's no problem.” Lucas said, pushing his way into the apartment, arms loaded to the brim with blankets. He was always happy to pay his brother a visit, especially now that they were no longer living together.  
  
“Guess it's pretty lucky that mom gave you all her quilts when we moved, huh?” Claus asked.  
  
“I'm just glad I'm making some space back at home. Where do you want these?”  
  
“Just through that door” The redhead pointed to his room, “you can dump them on my bed, I'll deal with them later.”  
  
“Alright.” Lucas pushed open the door with his back and dropped the stack of blankets on Claus' bed. He paused, taking in the atmosphere of the room. Something didn't seem right.  
  
“Hey!” Lucas half yelled from the room “I don't think it's your AC that's making it so cold in here.”  
  
“Huh?” Claus yelled back. It was mid-summer in New York, what else could it be? “What do you mean it's not my AC?”  
  
“I think you have a ghost, man.”  
  
Claus scoffed. Not this shit again.  
“Dude I already told you there's no ghost in this apartment.”  
  
“Then why is it only cold in here? Shouldn't it have leaked to the living room by now?”  
  
“Well...” Claus scratched the back of his neck.  
  
“I already told you before you started renting, there's something else in this apartment. Jeez, now do you believe me?”  
  
“No. Ghosts aren't real.” The older twin crossed his arms resolutely and Lucas sighed.  
  
“Fine. Don't believe me.” he said, heading for the entrance, “But I'm telling you, the longer you deny it, the worse it's gonna get.”  
  
“Yeah yeah, whatever, I'll be fine. Thanks for worrying, little brother.” Claus said, closing the door behind him. Lucas could be so naiive sometimes.  


* * *

  
  
“Hey you got a minute to talk?”  
  
Claus paused his chip munching to listen to his brother on the phone, “yeah I can talk. What's up? Ness isn't trying to convince you to go to that one steakhouse again is he?”  
  
Lucas gave a shuddering laugh. God what a day that was. “no, no, that's not why I called. It's about your ghost.”  
  
Claus frowned. “Dude, I already told you, I don't have a damn ghost.”  
  
“No, wait hear me out. I've been doing some research on your building and apartment number.”  
  
“Glad to know that medical degree is being put to good use.” Claus bit playfully.  
  
“Ha ha ha.” Lucas deadpanned, “but I've actually found some stuff just listen.”  
  
Claus dug his hand into the bag of chips, popping a few into his mouth. “Alright, I'm listening.”  
  
“Well, the first thing I found is that, surprisingly, not that many people have died in that whole complex. I thought that was sort of lucky, considering how many people live in that one building.”  
  
“So the possibility of a ghost is all naught then, right?”  
  
“No. Just wait a sec I'm getting to that. You live in apartment number 068, right?”  
  
“Just one number off from the perfect living space..” Claus said to himself.  
  
“Right. So, out of all those deaths, one person did die there, in your apartment.” Claus paused his chip eating again, paying attention. “It was a 20 year old guy from Detroit. Says he died from accidentally drinking drain cleaner.”  
  
Claus chuckled, “how do you accidentally drink drain cleaner?”  
  
“Couldn't tell ya. But that's not the point, the point is that you have a restless spirit in your apartment. You need to vacate for your own safety, dude.”  
  
Claus hummed loudly into the phone, “Hmm... Nope. Not gonna happen.” He smirked, “you've gotta stop worrying so much, Lucas. You're gonna give yourself an ulcer.”  
  
“But―”  
  
“Look, what you said seems neat but there are no such things as ghosts so just go make out with your loud ass boyfriend and let me eat my chips in peace.”  
  
“Claus―”  
  
“Goodbye, my dearest brother.” Claus sang before pressing the end button. That kid worried too much.  


* * *

  
  
Alright, Friday night. Pizza, check. 6 pack of monster, check. List of the most badass movies from the 70s, check.  
  
Friend...  
  
Claus paused his imaginary checklist, frowning, annoyed. Fucking Fuel, always choosing the worst days to go out of town.  
He threw himself against his pillow, groaning in self pity, “I'm such a loser, who stays in and watches movies alone on a Friday?”  
  
He reached his arm out to the wii u game pad on his floor and melodramatically put on the first movie.  
“Fuck you, Fuel!” He said, slamming his face into the couch.  
  
Eventually he let it go and accepted his fate of being the only one without a buddy on Friday, but goddamn did it feel pathetic. At least he had movies.  
  
On the screen was a landscape shot of a city with quirky music playing in the background. He frowned.  
  
This wasn't Death Race 2000, what the fuck?  
  
He pressed on the gamepad, the screen showing the cover of “Maid in Manhattan”, a movie Claus considered to be the exact opposite of Death Race 2000.  
  
“I knew I shouldn't have bought refurbished.” He grumbled, picking up the controller. He switched the movie and tossed the gamepad on the ground, annoyed.  
  
The movie got about 5 minutes in before the system glitched out and switched to a romantic comedy again. Claus stared intently at the TV, trying his best to mentally will it back to what it was.  
  
When the new film kept playing, he sighed, defeated, and begrudgingly switched it back to his movie once again.  
  
By the sixth time it switched, Claus was starting to lose it.  
  
“This is ridiculous.” He said, picking up the controller with a huff.  
  
He had tried everything, turning the TV off, turning the wii u off, blowing into the CD slot, punching the system, even calling Nintendo― all with no results.  
  
In one more desperate attempt to salvage his poor evening, he switched to the netflix miiverse page to see if anyone else was having similar problems.  
  
Seeing nothing more than show recs and poorly drawn memes, he decided to send a question out, asking for help. Maybe other people were having the same issue and just not saying anything.  
  
He clicked 'make a post' and a notepad appeared. But before he could do anything, words began to form on the screen without his control.  
  
He stared intently at the TV, surprised and confused. Was someone typing that? Who connected their controller to his system? He stared fixedly on the screen, trying to make out what that person was saying to him.  
  
'You have shit taste in movies.'  
  
Claus guffawed. Who the fuck...?  
  
“Am I being hacked on my fucking wii u?” He asked himself out loud. Only he should've been able to type... The words began to erase almost on queue with Claus' and replace themselves on screen.  
  
'No you're not you stupid asshole'  
  
“Alright, what the hell.” Claus knitted his brow. He hated to admit it, but he was getting a little bit freaked out with these accurate responses. It was like someone was spying on him.  
  
“What do you want?” He asked.  
  
The words on screen repeated their steps, erasing and retyping an answer.  
  
'I want you to watch better movies.'  
  
Scared out of his wits that someone might be spying on him through his wii u, and slightly offended that they would say that, Claus picked up the gamepad and took out the batteries. If they were hacking him, hopefully they wouldn't be able to type a response without it.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
'I'm your roommate, nice of you to finally notice me.'  
  
Claus' eyes widened. Apparently they could type without the controller, but more importantly, his roommate? Nope. This was getting way too weird and stalkery and it was scaring the ever loving shit out of him.  
He slowly replaced the space in his hands with his phone. Not taking his eyes off the screen, he dialed his brother's number. Maybe that whole ghost thing wasn't too far off. Or at least he hoped it wasn't, because a gross stalker that criticized his choice in movies would be a lot harder to get rid of.  
  
*ring*  
  
*ring*  
  
_fucking pick up!_ he thought  
  
*ring*  
  
*ring*  
  
*click* “hello?” _Thank god_ , “who's this?”  
  
Claus frowned into the phone. “It's Claus, who are you? Put my brother on.”  
  
“Oh, Claus. Sorry, it's Ness. What did you need?”  
  
“I need my brother, put him on.”  
  
“Oh...” Claus could hear Ness giggling into the receiver. “He can't... Really... Take your call right now.”  
  
“Can't take my call? What the fuck does that mean?”  
  
“He's sort of busy.”  
  
“Busy?” Claus was starting to get really annoyed. Now was not the time for Ness' bullshit. There was either a demonic wii u possession happening, or a creeper had planted cameras in the shelves of his apartment and he had no time to deal with giggling and excuses.  
  
“Here, if you really want, I can put him on for a sec.”  
  
Claus could hear rustling from the other end as the phone was put to his brother's cheek. From his end he heard Lucas quickly say, “wait no no I can't talk n―” before a lewd moan escaped through the speaker, and directly into Claus' eardrums. The redhead's jaw dropped in horror as he realized what was going on on the other end.  
  
“Ness, you fucker!!” Claus yelled into the phone, intent on strangling him through the radio waves. He could hear Ness cackling on the other line before giving a quick “told you he was busy” and hanging up.  
  
“I'll kill you!!” Claus shouted pointlessly into the phone. Fucking Ness, that was, like, 5th time he'd pulled that shit! Asshole, ruining the innocence of his sweet younger brother.  
  
“I am going to destroy that man the next time I see him.” Claus said, glaring murderously at his phone.  
  
'LOL what was that all about?' asked the words on screen. Claus' anxiety over the hacker in his system had been completely washed over by anger thanks to his call and he yelled at the TV.  
  
“None of your fucking business!”  
  
The words paused their erasing for a second, almost like the writer was startled by Claus' outburst before starting again. 'Alright, Jesus, just mild fucking curiosity.'  
  
This night was beyond ruined and Claus glared quietly at the TV. “I don't know if you're a hacker, a virus, some weirdo from the next apartment over, or even a damn ghost, but you better get out of my wii u right now.”  
  
':/' the words typed back.  
  
Claus stood up from his seat on the couch and pulled the plug from the TV.  


* * *

  
  
“Ow ow ow, fuck” Claus gripped his throbbing head. He could deal with colds usually, but when they brought headaches with them it was always a real struggle.  
  
“Here, it says the guy who died's name is―”  
  
“Lucas,” Claus sighed, “I keep telling you, I don't have a ghost, just give it a rest, man.”  
  
Lucas frowned and closed his laptop, “sorry, but if what you're telling me really happened, there is a strong possibility you have some kind of poltergeist.”  
  
Claus groaned and laid back on the arm rest of his couch. When he asked Lucas to come over and help him out around the house while he was recovering from his cold, he wasn't really expecting a paranormal lecture.  
Lucas, on the other hand agreed to come over mainly just to give that lecture. What could he say? He really liked ghosts. Also he wanted to apologize for Ness' phone prank from the week before...  
  
Lucas groaned internally. God, Ness wouldn't know the meaning of the word subtle if it smacked him across the face.  
  
“Um, look, about that call last week―” Lucas began,  
  
“I don't wanna hear it.” Claus interrupted, “just tell Ness he better watch his back the next time he comes around.”  
  
Lucas rolled his eyes, “Claus, we're grown adults, you can't be the protective older brother forever.”  
  
“Like hell I can't!” Claus yelled, the loud sound causing him to grip his head harder at the pain.  
  
Lucas sighed, “I'll get you some DayQuil.”  
  
The blonde stood up and walked to the joining kitchen area, looking for a medicine cabinet. Finding nothing, he decided to pick some up at a store he saw a few blocks away, as well as some groceries, because clearly Claus' diet of monster drinks and pizza  wasn't doing him any good. As he left, Claus saw the TV switch screens.  
  
'He seems nice.'  
  
The redhead's eyes widened. The stalker was back, fucking great.  
Blood rushed from Claus' head and he gripped his skull painfully. Shit, he thought last week was the end of it all.  
  
“Not this again.”  
  
'What's his name?'  
  
“His name is none of your business.” Claus said angrily. He grabbed the gamepad from his floor, placing in the batteries he had taken out last week, “So don't start doing this shit to him.” He waved the gamepad to show what he meant. The last thing his brother needed was a weird stalker in his living room too.  
  
'So who is he? A friend? Boyfriend?'  
  
Claus made a disgusted face. “He's my brother.”  
  
'He doesn't seem like a lazy unemployed div like you, what's he doing taking care of your ass?'  
  
_What the fuck does "div" mean?_ Claus shook the question from his mind. “Sorry that I come from a caring family, also he's still in school so you can kindly shut the hell up.”  
  
'Ouch, biting. What's he in school for?'  
  
“Why are you asking all these questions?”  
  
'I'm a curious guy. Plus you both seem pretty interesting. So tell me, what's he do?'  
  
Claus frowned suspiciously. This stalker was getting pretty pushy about his brother. “he's in medical school. Wants to be a pediatrician.”  
  
'Thats nice. I can't stand kids so, good for him. He seems patient enough to do it, if him taking care of you means anything.'  
  
“Yup... Wait, what's that supposed to mean?” He said, indignantly.  
  
At that, the door to the apartment swung open and his brother entered, arms full of paper bags filled with all sorts of groceries.  
  
“Sup, I'm back.” The blonde said.  
  
“Lucas! Perfect timing, look―” Claus halted his words as he looked at the black screen on the TV. They turned it off?  
  
“mother fucker!” Claus yelled, tossing the game pad to his side. “The miiverse guy was talking to me again, you just missed it.”  
  
Lucas' face lit up, “you mean the ghost? Really? Oh dude, cool, no way!” He reached over to grab the game pad from across his brother, inspecting it for whatever reason.  
  
“It's not a ghost, it's some douchebag who managed to wiggle his way into my wii u”  
  
Lucas frowned. “Then why does he only want to talk to you?”  


* * *

  
  
“Fuel, my man! What is up? How was Spain?”  
  
The two men did an overly complicated hand shake as Fuel walked into the apartment, a six pack in hand and a huge smile plastered on his face.  
  
“Oh, bro, it was so great. Everything about it was just perfect, the weather, the people, you have got to go some time.”  
  
“Dude, I wish, but I'm broke outta my ass.”  
  
Fuel laughed, “why don't you just get a rich as hell boyfriend like your brother? I'm sure he'd be happy to take you.”  
  
Claus laughed, “yeah I guess so... Anyways, sit down, make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa.”  
  
Fuel took the note and flopped down on Claus' couch, kicking his shoes off and cracking open a beer. “That reminds me, you actually found yourself a boyfriend yet?”  
  
Claus blushed, walking into his kitchen and grabbing a bag of chips, “um... Not yet.” He laughed uncomfortably, the topic not something he usually liked to discuss around Fuel.  
  
“That's too bad, I'm sure someone will come along eventually.”  
  
“Yeah... Eventually.” Claus sat down across the couch from Fuel, chips in hand. He didn't want to sit too close, worried he might make his friend uncomfortable. The brunette didn't take the queue and reached over, grabbing a handful of chips out of the bag.  
  
“So what movie are we watching?”  
  
Claus smiled, thankful for the change in topic, “I was thinking office space. You haven't seen that one yet, right?”  
  
“Nope, sounds good to me.”  
  
“Cool.” Claus grabbed the gamepad and started the movie. The beginning slide show of producers flashed on the screen as Fuel spoke up again.  
  
“The beaches in Barcelona were incredible, too. I swear, everyone there had a perfect beach body, not that I didn't too.” He smirked, “Here, hold on I'll show you.”  
Fuel fished around in his pocket for his phone, opening Facebook and swiping through some of the pictures he'd uploaded.  
  
He pushed the device to Claus' face and the redhead blushed again, his face turning a deep crimson. It was a picture of Fuel and a girl sunbathing on the beach. Fuel was right, he did have a perfect beach body. Claus figured that his friend was pretty much perfect all around. That's probably why he had such a huge fucking crush on him.  
God, having a crush on his best friend... That was just ruin waiting to happen.  
He tried his best to cool down. All these pictures of a half naked Fuel were not helping to ease Claus' feelings and the last thing he wanted was to give away his secret because of some stupid rosacea welling up in his cheeks.  
  
Fuel scooted closer to Claus until their legs were touching, Claus thoroughly embarrassed at the contact, and Fuel completely oblivious. He flipped through pictures on his Facebook, making sure to show Claus all of them. Claus tried his best to listen to all of the little details that Fuel was giving him but it was hard when these gorgeous pictures kept appearing in front of his eyes.  
  
As Fuel was talking about all the different types of crabs he found on the beach, he flipped to a new picture that made Claus' heart drop.  
  
“Who's that?” He asked, his mouth suddenly very dry.  
  
Fuel blushed and withdrew his phone. On the screen was a picture of him and a girl kissing in front of the sunset.  
  
“She's, uh,” he scratched his head, embarrassed, “well” he smiled shyly, “she's a girl I met on my trip. Her name's Isabella.”  
  
“Oh... she's pretty.”  
  
“Isn't she?” Fuel smiled, happy to have someone to gush about this girl over. He was completely oblivious to Claus' bittersweet tone. “She's so sweet and funny. We met at the beach stand and totally hit it off. Plus, she lives in New York, too! How crazy is that?”  
  
Claus' heart dropped even lower when he heard that. He smiled sadly, trying to put on his best face and not show Fuel his disappointment.  
“Then you two are together?” He kept his smile, fake as it was. On the inside it felt like his heart was being stepped on.  
  
“Haha, well yeah, kinda.” Fuel looked so happy. It crushed Claus to see him act that way about someone else.  
  
Truth be told, he knew Fuel was straight. But the heart and the head have a tendency to not get along, and despite how true he knew it to be, Claus couldn't help but hold on to a glimmer of hope that maybe his feelings for Fuel would be returned.  
Having that glimmer of hope ripped away absolutely fucked him up inside and it took all his strength not to run out of his apartment right then and there.  
  
When Fuel left for the night, Claus buried himself in his couch cushions and cried.  
  
'Man, you really had it bad for that guy didn't you?'  
  
Claus turned his head to the now bright screen in front of him, his eyes red.  
He glared at it, trying to make it break with his stare alone.  
  
“Do you really have to do this right now?”  
  
The screen went blank without type for a few seconds before slowly filling with words again.  
  
'Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it'  
  
Claus buried his face in his pillow again, filling the room with quiet sobs.  
  
'Love is a tricky thing sometimes.'  
  
He looked at the words, but didn't have any real reaction besides a sniffle.  
  
'That guy seemed like a douche. You can do better.' The words said.  
  
“Are you joking?” Claus laughed bitterly, “He was way too good for me, I don't know why I ever thought...” He wiped his eyes with the end of his sleeve, trailing off.  
  
'Don't blame yourself for this. Just because one relationship didn't work out doesn't mean it's the end forever.'  
  
“What do you know.” Claus glared. “I don't need your life lessons.”  
  
'Sure seems like you do. Now listen up, this one guy isn't your whole world. He's not even a little bit of it. Just because things didn't go well doesn't mean it'll never get better. Life's all about u'  
  
Claus raised an eyebrow at the sudden halt before the words erased and began to type again.  
  
'Sorry, miiverse has a 200 character limit. As I was saying, life's all about ups and downs. Without either, it's just monotony. We need the downs to appreciate the ups.'  
  
Claus didn't want to admit it, but the words made him feel a bit better. “I can't believe I'm getting lectured by a stalker in my wii u”  
  
'Not really. My name's Ninten. I'm actually a ghost.'  
  
Claus' eyes widened and he backed into his couch in shock. “What the fuck? Ghosts aren't...”  
  
'Come on, don't get scared now. I already told you we're roommates, we should be past this.'  
  
“It's not every day I'm told by my wii u that I'm being haunted by a ghost that likes to give relationship advice.”  
  
'Its not every day that I meet a tenant in my place that doesn't run out screaming when I let them know I'm here.'  
  
Claus smiled challengingly, his sadness forgotten for the moment in favor of exploring this strange phenomenon. “Fair point. Although, honestly I don't actually believe you.”  
  
'What do you mean?'  
  
“I don't believe in ghosts.” Claus brushed the last of his drying tears from his face, “you're gonna have to prove it to me that you are what you claim you are.”  
  
'Well, fuck. What do you want me to do? I already make this place below freezing, what else do you need?'  
  
“Um...” Claus put his hand to his chin, at least this was better than crying over Fuel. “make the lights flicker.”  
  
At that, the main light overhead began to quickly turn on and off and Claus smiled, impressed.  
  
“Not bad, seems like your good with electronics.”  
  
'Ironically, yeah. I was never good with them when I was alive.'  
  
“Move this chip.” Claus picked a potato chip from the bag and placed it on his palm, holding it up for the ghost in question.  
  
'I'm not a dog, you know.'  
  
“Just do it. I gotta make sure you're not just some tech wizard that's messing with me.”  
  
'Fine.'  
  
Claus felt his hand go cold as the chip was pushed from his palm to the floor. He giggled. “I never thought I'd see the day when I actually gave into beliefs about the paranormal.”  
  
'So you believe me now?'  
  
Claus picked the chip up and placed it in his mouth, “yup. Nice to meet you, roomie.”  
  
'And you, roomie :)'  


* * *

  
  
“So you said, your name's Ninten?” Claus typed on his laptop.  
  
'Yeah. I used to live here about 30 years ago.'  
  
“30 years? Haven't you gotten bored?”  
  
'Why do you think I've been so eager to talk to you?'  
  
“Don't tell me no one's talked to you since you died.”  
  
'They have, but it was always "leave this place, evil spirit" or, “the power of Christ compels you”'  
  
“You don't seem too evil to me...maybe a bit irritable.” Claus smiled, “what year did you die?”  
  
'1989'  
  
“No wonder you've been using so much dated slang. 80s kid, huh? How old were you?”  
  
'When I died? 20. Drank drain cleaner.'  
  
“No shit. Then my brother was right about you.”  
  
'He knows me?'  
  
“Yeah, he did some research on this place trying to convince me it's haunted. He's right but I don't want to admit it to him or he'll gloat for days. Why did you drink drain cleaner?” He was starting to get to like his apartment ghost, he seemed like a cool guy.  
  
'I thought it was cool blue Gatorade.'  
  
Claus burst out laughing, tears forming in his eyes from the pressure. Scratch that, this guy wasn't just cool, he was a fucking riot. Believing in ghosts was the best decision he'd made all year.  


* * *

  
  
“What's the best communication device for the paranormal?” The redhead asked from across the counter.  
  
The radio shack employee raised a confused eyebrow. “I'm sorry, sir, I don't know exactly what you mean.”  
  
“What's a thing I can use to get a ghost to talk to me?”  
  
The man laughed nervously, “that's a little bit outside of my expertise, sir. I apologize.”  
  
Claus clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't want to have to ask Lucas for advice, but if it came to that, it came to that.  
  
“Alright, thanks anyways.” He pushed himself off the counter and left the store. The employee waved goodbye, a confused smile left on his face.  


* * *

  
“I fucking told you!” Lucas smiled as he entered the apartment. “I knew you had a ghost!”  
  
Claus rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah. You told me. Now can you help me out or not?”  
  
“Honestly when you said you wanted to be able to talk to it I was shocked.” Lucas said, not listening to whatever his brother was saying. “Normally, people want their ghosts exorcised or their place cleansed, but it sounds to me like you want to become friends with yours.”  
  
“Well―” Claus began,  
  
“I brought a whole bunch of stuff to help out. Ness would've come too but he's visiting family today so I told him if he made it out early he could come over.”  
  
Claus frowned. He hated when Lucas got like this, he could never get a word in edgewise.  
  
“Here,” Lucas sat his backpack down as he reached in to grab all the things he brought. He pulled out a laptop, phone, walkie talkies, a digital camera, and a oujia board. “This is all the stuff I've got.”  
  
“I don't think we need all this.” Claus said blankly.  
  
“Better safe than sorry.” Lucas responded, “where's your ghost right now?”  
  
“In my wii u. Anyways, I don't want to get rid of him, I just want to be able to talk to him more freely. Doing it over miiverse is really annoying.”  
  
Lucas thought for a moment before sitting down completely on the floor, looking at the game system “can I talk to him?”  
  
Claus powered on the wii u. “I don't know if he'll talk to you. He doesn't ever talk when other people are here.”  
  
“Can't you just ask him to?”  
  
“No point in me doing it. It's not like he can't hear you.” Claus tapped on the gamepad, “you hear that, asshole? Don't you get shy on me now.”  
  
The screen went to the miiverse page and Claus opened the editor for a new post. The keyboard appeared on the game pad but the screen remained blank.  
  
He knitted his eyebrows in irritation. “Come on, Ninten, I'm doing this for you.”  
  
Nothing appeared and both men sighed.  
  
“That's ok.” Lucas said, staying positive, “we can try something else.” He lifted the oujia board, placing it on the table between the two of them and putting the glass triangle in the middle. “Let's do this.”  
  
Before Claus could put his hand on the triangle with him, words began to type rapidly on the TV screen.  
  
'Dude, no no no no, don't do that.'  
  
Lucas gasped, his face lighting up at the sight of the words.  
  
“So now you decide to talk.” Claus said, rolling his eyes.  
  
'You don't leave me much of a choice. If you fucking use that board we're gonna get all kinds of unwelcome guests in here and I'm gonna have to deal with them.'  
  
“Wow!” Lucas shouted, “that's amazing, I've never seen anything like this before!”  
  
'Nice to meet you. I'm Ninten.' The words typed out humbly.  
  
Lucas practically jumped with giddyness, a huge smile on his face. “Nice to meet you, too! I'm Lucas.”  
  
Claus smirked and ruffled Lucas' hair, “you're usually so shy when you meet new people, looks like the only ones you're comfortable around are ghosts, eh?”  
  
Lucas smacked Claus' hand, embarrassed that he was being treated like a kid in front of something so cool, “like you're one to talk, Mr. I never leave my apartment.”  
  
“Hey, I was _just_ at radio shack!”  
  
'LOL you guys seem to get along well.'  
  
Lucas turned his attention back to the TV, more interested in the words being typed out than in continuing their siblings quarrel. He raised his eyebrows with an idea, reaching into his backpack again and fishing through its contents. “I actually brought something for you to try out.”  
The blonde pulled out a tiny transistor radio, setting it on the table next to the abandoned oujia board. “I've read about ghosts communicating with people through these, here, you should try speaking through it too.”  
  
He switched it on, static churning through the speaker. Him and Claus sat expectantly, waiting for a voice to shine through it.  
  
'...'  
  
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. “does it not work?”  
  
'...'  
  
“I think he's nervous.” Claus said. “Maybe he doesn't want to reveal his voice. Maybe... He sounds like Steve Urkel...” He laughed, mockingly.  
  
'I DON'T,.'  
  
This only spurred Claus to laugh harder and he fell to the floor, clutching his sides.  
  
Lucas smiled calmly at the TV. “It's alright, Ninten, I'll get out of your hair so you can talk to Claus. Maybe at some point when you're ready you'll talk to me, too.”  
  
The blonde stood up, packing his things away. His brother was still mid-recovery from his laughing fit when Lucas nudged him with his foot. “I'm off, bro. Good luck with your paranormal adventure, I'll tell Ness you said hi.”  
  
The door closed behind him and Claus wiped the tears from his eyes, picking up the transistor radio as he did so.  
  
“Alright.” Claus said, “you can try now.”  
  
Static began to curve out of the radio and slowly quiet down, replaced by the sound of a muffled voice.  
  
“... Hello?”  


* * *

  
  
“So is this you?” Claus pointed to the black and white picture on his laptop. It was a tiny picture of a smiling young man with black hair and a striped shirt.  
  
“Yeah that's me.” The voice emerged from the radio sitting on the next to Claus. He smiled.  
  
“You're pretty handsome. You look kinda tired here though, up all night partying I assume?”  
  
Ninten laughed, “Not a chance. Actually I had pretty bad insomnia when I was alive. Well, just bad health in general. I was surprised when the draino was the thing to do me in rather than my weak immune system. Thanks for the compliment, though.”  
  
Claus relaxed into the couch cushions, a lazy smile still on his face. He liked knowing what his new friend looked like. Or, he just really liked his new friend.  
  
“It matches your voice, the picture I mean. It's nice.”  
  
“... Thanks. You're not too shabby looking yourself.”  
  
A slight blush crept its way on to the redhead's face and he laughed.  
  
“Thanks.”  


* * *

  
  
“So the other tenants that stayed in this apartment... What happened to them?” Claus was doing sit-ups on his carpet when he asked, and even through the radio he could tell his question caught Ninten off guard.  
  
“Huh? Oh, well for the most part this place was vacant. Most people can sort of sense the haunted vibe when they come in here. Except you of course.”  
  
Claus grinned. “Looks like I'm just fearless right?”  
  
Ninten chuckled. “Sure. As for the other people, they either left within about a month of getting here or I drove them out.”  
  
Claus frowned. He didn't really think of Ninten as a malicious spirit. “You drove them out? Why?”  
  
“It's not like I wanted to.” He responded, “it's just that they tried to have me exorcised or used something stupid and careless like a oujia board and I had no choice.”  
  
“Woah...” Claus said, “lucky for me I guess.”  
  
Ninten smiled. “Lucky for both of us.”  


* * *

  
  
“Do you think he needs to move on? Or wait, what does he needs to do to move on?” Lucas asked, filling out papers on his desk.  
  
Claus was sprawled out on the floor of his brother's place, browsing through paranormal image boards on his phone.  
  
“I don't care. I don't want him to move on.”  
  
Lucas swiveled around to face his brother. “What do you mean you don't want him to? How will he ever find peace?”  
  
Claus frowned. It's not that he didn't want him to find peace... “He's cool. We're having a good time, I just... don't want him to leave yet.”  
  
Lucas spun back around, placing his focus back on his papers. “Whatever you say...”  


* * *

  
  
“Hey Ninten, do you need to move on?” Claus asked the air out of the blue. It'd been a few months since they started talking to each other through the radio and as much as he didn't want to admit it, Lucas was right. He couldn't just keep his friend trapped in the apartment with him if he needed to move on.  
  
“Um... Maybe? I've never really thought about it before.” The ghost responded.  
  
“They say you get trapped here if there's something you need to do before you move on.” Claus said, picking up the radio and looking into its speaker. “What do you have to do?”  
  
The voice didn't emerge from the radio for quite some time, and when it did it came out small and quiet.  
  
“Claus... Do you think you could do me a favor?”  


* * *

  
  
The redhead stood on the bus, fingers curled around one of the many metal poles inside to keep himself from falling. The interior wasn't too crowded today, thankfully, but Claus couldn't help but hold a sour look on his face. Public transit just got that kind of reaction out of him.  
Claus patted his pocket to make sure it was still there. He sighed in relief when he felt the shape of his radio perk through the fabric of his coat pocket. If he lost that, he'd never be able to forgive himself.  
  
The bus eventually came to a stop and Claus stepped out, making his way towards a large grassy field.  
The park he entered was adorned with all kinds of decorative stones from crosses to simple bricks and even classic tombstone shapes. He admired the care each one had in its engraving. It's odd that so much attention was put into something for a person who would never see it.  
  
He walked through the path for a few minutes before stopping in front of a humble headstone in the grass.  
  
'Here lies Ninten Rockwell. Friend, brother, coffee enthusiast.'  
  
Claus smiled at the last part, but somehow, seeing the headstone in front of him filled him with a strange sense of melancholy. He sat next to it, hands behind his back and looked up at the clouds.  
  
A tiny buzzing sound came from his pocket and he fished the radio out of his coat, a surprised look on his face.  
  
“Ninten?”  
  
“Howdy.”  
  
Claus pursed his lips. “I thought you couldn't leave the apartment. After all isn't that what you're haunting?”  
  
“Yeah... I thought so too.” Ninten said, “I guess somewhere along the line I started haunting you instead.”  
  
Claus smiled, his cheeks dusted with a slight red. “I guess I should be kind of weirded out, but I have to say I'm pretty flattered at the same time.”  
  
Ninten laughed lightly through the radio. Claus loved that sound.  
  
“So this is your grave?” He asked. “I like the last part.”  
  
Ninten chuckled, embarrassed that someone pointed it out. “I wrote that on my will as a joke, but it looks like they took it seriously.” Claus could feel him shuffling, embarrassed, through the radio, “At least it's true.”  
  
They were silent for a while, looking up at the sky.  
  
Claus was the one to break the quiet of the moment.  
“Do you miss life?” He asked, honestly.  
  
Ninten didn't respond for a while. Perhaps pondering the question, maybe just looking wistfully at his grave.  
  
“Yes.” He said, sadly.  
  
They were quiet for a while after that. Taking in the peaceful atmosphere, both of them feeling a kind of poignant sadness.  
  
“I wish you were here to sit with me.” Claus said, closing his eyes.  
  
Ninten sighed. “...Me too.”  


* * *

  
  
“So you never got to meet the ghost of Billy Mays?” Claus asked, his jaw hanging wide.  
  
Ninten laughed, “no, actually surprisingly enough not too many celebrity ghosts pass through this specific New York apartment before making their way to the next world.”  
  
Claus gave a toothy grin. “Laaaaaame. I wanted to talk to Evel Knievel.”  
  
The redhead relaxed, stretching on to the couch and kicking off his shoes. It was the weekend again which meant he could spend some time hanging out with Ninten instead of just job hunting like usual.  
  
“Hey, uh, Claus, can I try something?” Ninten asked hesitantly.  
  
The other man quirked an eyebrow. “Huh? Yeah, sure, what?”  
  
“Just uh...” Even though Claus couldn't see him, he could tell Ninten was concentrating. Over these past several months together Claus had gotten really good at reading the other man's emotions through his voice, even with the poor sound quality of the stereo.  
  
“Just, uh... scootch a little bit to your right.” Ninten said.  
  
Claus sat up and moved to the right of the couch, accidentally kicking some empty monster cans along the way.  
  
“Alright, what now?” He asked.  
  
“I'm um... I'm sitting next to you.” Ninten said shyly, “to your left.”  
  
Claus smiled brightly and looked over. He couldn't see anything, but just hearing it made him happy. Knowing that Ninten was sitting with him made him happy.  
  
“I like it when you sit with me.”  


* * *

  
  
“Ok, where are you right now?” Claus asked, he was scanning the living room to see if he could find any traces of his friend floating around.  
  
“I'm next to the TV.”  
  
Claus frowned. He really couldn't see him.  
  
“Maybe there's some kind of incense I need to see you.”  
  
“I doubt it.” Ninten said. “If you can't see me now, it's probably because you were born without a good sixth sense.”  
  
He hated to admit it, but that made Claus incredibly sad.  


* * *

  
The next few months continued like that, Claus talking to Ninten whenever he could, them learning about each other, spooking the neighbors, all of that.  
  
It was by Claus' second year in his apartment that he realized he was absolutely in love with this ghost boy.  


* * *

  
  
“Will you― um, well, it's just that―”  
  
Lucas banged on the door to his bathroom. Claus had been in there for, what? 20 minutes? 30? Doing what? Reciting fucking Shakespeare in front of the mirror?  
  
“Claus, come on, some of us actually need to use the bathroom as a bathroom.”  
  
Claus frowned. He was being interrupted in the middle of his speech. Some people had no manners. “I'm doing important work in here, thank you!” He yelled out.  
  
Lucas groaned. “Come on, just leave for like 5 minutes!”  
  
Claus begrudgingly opened the door and Lucas raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “What were you doing in there?”  
  
“Ninten's busy scaring the neighbors right now so I'm in here practicing my confession.” Claus said honestly.  
  
“Confession? Claus, you can't be in a relationship with a ghost.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed that he even had to tell him this, “that's just not how it works.”  
  
Claus sighed. It's not like he didn't know that. But... No, no, Lucas was right. This was his reality check right here. He might as well back out while he still had the chance. He didn't want another failed romance on his hands.  
  
“I know.” Claus frowned, “here, I'll leave, sorry.” he paused for a second, laughing bitterly “... I guess I sort of just got my hopes up again.”  


* * *

  
  
“Dude, what's the matter?” Ninten said, when Claus got back from his brother's house.  
  
“Nothing. Don't worry about it.”  
  
Claus could feel Ninten's frown through the radio. “Well, the good news is, the Stevensons were scared shitless. I don't think they're gonna stay here much longer.”  
  
Claus gave a half hearted smile, sitting down on the couch.  
  
“Dude, don't give me that, what's wrong?” Ninten pressed.  
  
Claus furrowed his eyebrows in anger. “It's nothing, I told you, don't worry about it.”  
  
“No, fuck you, I'm your friend, tell me what's wrong.”  
  
Claus covered his eyes with his hands, laying against the arm rest of his couch. “Ninten, where are you right now?”  
  
“I'm standing right next to you.”  
  
Claus moved his hand, brushing his hair back as he did so, looking up. “I wish... I wish I could see you.”  
  
“I wish you could too.”  
  
“You know what? Fuck it.” Claus said, standing up suddenly, looking left, directly at where Ninten claimed to be and walking to him. His mood was completely different, taking on a feeling of reckless abandon, rather than anguish.  
  
“Are you in front of me right now?” He asked  
  
“Yeah― wait, what's all this about?” Ninten questioned, nervously.  
  
“I want to make sure you're looking at me when I say this.”  
  
Claus could hear his own heartbeat speed up, but Ninten didn't say anything, waiting for Claus to speak up first.  
  
“Ninten, I―”  
  
“I like you, too!” Ninten blurted suddenly through the radio.  
  
Claus' breath hitched and he looked ahead wide-eyed, before breaking out into a huge beaming smile.  
  
“R- really?” He asked, grin plastered on his face, showing no signs of fading.  
  
He could hear Ninten bumbling through his words, clearly embarrassed and blushing to his ears, not that Claus was any better when it came to his redness levels.  
  
“R- really!” Ninten paused sadly, “I know you can't see me and we can't touch each other or anything but―”  
  
Claus scoffed, smile still on his face, “Ninten, I don't care about that stuff. I'm just happy to be here with you.”  
  
He couldn't see it, but Ninten was smiling too.  


* * *

  
  
The days went on like that. Ninten and Claus spending long hours together, joking and talking, enjoying their time together. Eventually Claus got a job with a biological engineering firm and had to move. It was a big hassle, but somehow he managed to take Ninten along and share a small flat together.  
Claus learned all about Ninten's life and Ninten learned all about his.  
  
Lucas would come around often to say hi, and eventually so did Ness. Claus was able to finally kick his ass (or at least smack him in the head) much to his and Lucas' chagrin.  
  
Oddly enough they managed to trace Ninten's family ties back to Ness as well, finding out that they were very very distantly related.  
  
Every once and a while Claus and Ninten would have talks about mortality and Ninten would always tell Claus that no matter how much he loved him, he couldn't come see him, that he needed to live his life. Claus understood and was happy to just be able to talk to Ninten at all.  
  
By the time Claus was starting to grey around the edges, he'd managed to track down what was left of Ninten's family and call them over to their house.  
  
His sisters names were Mimmy and Minny. They came to visit for the first time when Claus was 55.  
  
It was a tearful affair but Claus was happy because Ninten was finally able to say goodbye to them, something he'd always longed to do. If Ninten was happy, he was happy.  
  
The morning after that day, however, the radio stopped working.  
  
Claus tried everything, tried fixing it, getting new batteries, got a whole new radio, even tried turning on his old wii u, but nothing worked.  
  
Ninten was gone. He had... moved on.  
  
Claus cried and cried. Cried for what felt like months, years even.  
  
But he listened to Ninten's words, and he kept on living.  


* * *

  
  
The day he died he was 70 years old, exactly. The last thing the doctor said when they found him was that he moved on peacefully.  


* * *

  
  
“So this is the after life, huh? Not too shabby.”  
  
Claus looked down at his hands. They were smooth, and surprisingly not translucent.  
  
“I guess I wasn't really expecting the after life to be a literal airport.” He said to himself, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of afterlife passengers.  
  
He stepped out of the boarding area and went down the stairs. He had one bag, a tiny back pack holding a recipe for omelets and a  transistor radio.  
  
Looking around he saw a lot of teenagers, a few adults, and a couple of seniors. It turned out that when you die, you go to the age where you were happiest in your life. For Claus, he was 22.  
  
He slicked his hair back with his fingers and stepped off the last stair to the airport exit area.  
  
People were all lined up with signs for disembarking passengers. Some for family, some for lost love, and one... for him.  
  
His eyes went wide and he looked up at its holder. A short 20 year old guy with black hair and a striped shirt.  
  
He looked at Claus with a small smile on his face.  
  
Claus dropped his bag, blinking rapidly, trying to make out the sight before him before leaping over the velvet rope and running to the other boy.  
  
He tackled him with a gigantic crying smile and they fell to the floor, laughing and crying and hugging for the first time in both of their existence.  
  
Claus looked down lovingly at the other man, trying to take in all of his features, tear drops blurring his view. “Ninten... is it really you?”  
  
“Claus... It is.” The other man smiled, tears freely falling from his eyes.  
  
The redhead bent down and kissed him. It had been so long since he heard his voice, since they were together. Ninten wrapped his arms around Claus' neck and kissed him back. They never wanted the moment to end.  
  
“Excuse me, sir, I'm gonna have to ask you two to take this outside.” A woman in blue nudged Claus with her foot. Apparently PDA was against airport rules, which was thoroughly pissing Claus off, especially considering how good of a kisser Ninten turned out to be.  
  
He broke the kiss momentarily to flip the woman off before diving back in and Ninten laughed.  
  
“This is the first time I've seen my boyfriend in literally ever and if you think I'm not going to enjoy it to the fullest you are dead wrong.” Claus said, muffled by Ninten's lips as he growled at the woman.  
  
“Very funny sir. Now if you do not cease this inappropriate behavior I'll have no choice but to call airport security to escort you out.” She threatened.  
  
“Fine.” Claus said, hoisting Ninten up in his arms and grabbing his backpack, “we're leaving.”  
  
As they walked out, all Claus could notice on was how Ninten tasted like coffee, sunshine, and love.

* * *

  
When they made it back to Ninten's apartment, (surprisingly the after life is a lot like the living world), they spent the day catching up with each other. Talking about their lives for the past years and relishing in each other's presence.  
  
It was like they were back in Claus' old apartment, with Ninten talking through the tiny radio on the table and the two of them laughing all the way.  
  
But this time it was so much better.

* * *

  
  
A week went by before they were able to get over their shaky and awkward transition to the physical world. Claus still caught himself staring at Ninten's face, brushing his arms when he got the chance just to remind himself that he was here.  
  
They stumbled through it all, unsure if the other was alright with this or that, learning how the other's body worked and how they reacted to things on a level other than conversation.  
  
As they fit back into their lives together, they started to throw playful insults at each other, most of them laced with kisses and a few retorts laced with punches.  
Claus turned out to be a lot taller than Ninten, much to the other's chagrin and Claus made sure to make fun of him for it whenever he could. Ninten didn't know whether to punch or kiss him, so he did both.  
  
Eventually Lucas and Ness joined up with them, sharing the same apartment complex.  
  
Claus laughed more than he could help when they both showed up 17 years old. Apparently their whole lives were so happy that they just put them at the ages when they first met.  
  
Claus would never let them live it down.

* * *

  
“Where are you right now?”  
  
Ninten raised an eyebrow at Claus' question. “What do you mean where am I? I'm right here.”  
  
Claus turned to face him. “Are you in front of me now?”  
  
“Dude, what―?”  
  
“Good. I want to make sure you're looking at me when I say this.” Claus stared into the other's eyes. Ninten got the hint and smiled up at the redhead, touching his forehead to the other's.  
  
“Ninten...” Claus whispered, “I love you.”  
  
Ninten smiled quietly, bringing Claus into a warm kiss. Claus thought he might melt right there.  
  
“I love you too.”

* * *


	2. NaCl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess you could say he was pretty salty about the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please release me from the fresh hell that is this chapter. I don't love it, but if I keep revising it, it's gonna end up getting posted in 60 years when I'm a fucking senior citizen, in a home, eating oatmeal and complaining about Paul Newman movies.  
> I'm posting it now to avoid that tragic fate. It's short, but I hope you like it.

The biology room. Perfect.

“Come on Claus, don't do this, you don't even know this guy.”

The redhead grinned, uncapping a small bottle with a devilish aura. “I know him enough to show him that he made a fatal mistake leaving his travel mug here unattended.”

Lucas sighed. Once his brother set his mind on something, there was no convincing him otherwise.

“Fine, but I don't want any part of this.”

“Suit yourself” Claus shrugged, pouring a white grainy substance from the bottle to the mug.

“Wait, hold on, what are you actually putting in there?!” Lucas asked, panicked.

“Jeez, don't worry, it's just salt, or NaCl for all of you science lovers out there.” He held up the bottle, “I snagged from one of the cupboards.”

“Oh. Well in that case... wait, no, Claus, this is not ok!” Lucas said, reaching for the mug, “You seriously don't even know this guy-”

“Shhhut shh” Claus whispered, slapping a hand on his brother's mouth and leading him away from the crime scene, “The enemy aproacheth.”

The blonde shifted his eyes towards the door of the lab where the mug owner was walking in calmly. He didn't seem to notice anything, making it to his table unamused, and completely unaware.  
Lucas was ready to break out of his brother's grasp and warn him not to drink anything like the good citizen he was, but before he could even move, the boy had begun to sip from his mug.

He paused for a second when the drink hit his lips. Lucas gulped nervously and Claus grinned. The boy definitely noticed something.  
In a split second, his eyes locked onto Claus' and he tilted the mug up, drinking the rest of it in one go.

Claus could only stand there slack jawed. The guy drank a mug full of salt without batting an eye, and even figured out the perpetrator like a game of clue. What the hell.

The redhead slowly released Lucas, walking to the fearless teen with a mixture of defeat and shining admiration.

He stopped a small distance from the other boy, towering over him in physical stature only. They stood in silence, eyes glaring challengingly at one another before breaking out into their own smirks.

“I like your style, Ninten.” Claus grinned.

“And yours, carrot boy.”

Lucas crinkled his eyebrows in confusion. They knew each other? When did that happen? People needed to tell him these things.

“Just consider this payback for the lemon incident.” Claus said to Ninten, turning back to his brother, “and while we're still talking, why don't you check the bottom of your coffee cup? There might be something in there that you missed.”

Ninten raised an eyebrow before twisting the lid off the mug and taking out a small laminated paper.

Claus sat down in the desk behind Lucas just as the bell rang signaling the start of class. Lucas looked at him, confused. How did Claus manage to have such a confident demeanor and look utterly terrified at the same time?

A few minutes later, a neatly folded paper airplane flew through the room, hitting Claus in the back of the head. He flinched at the sharp contact before quickly snatching the plane off the floor.

He gulped. Guess there was no time like the present. With hesitant fingers, he unfolded the plane to reveal a one word message written in blue highlighter.

'Yes.'

Claus' grip tightened, crumpling the paper slightly in his hand, but the smile on his face told that it wasn't a bad thing. It was just an adverse response to being really fucking excited. And happy. Because that was a yes. That was definitely a yes.

Lucas sent him a look. “What's got you all excited?” He whispered.

Claus shrugged, trying and failing hold down his smile.

“I've got a date to prom.”


End file.
